User blog:Carol of the bells/Days of Ruin (Revised): Chapter 1, part 3
Karl’s boots echoed down the corridor. It was unusually empty for this time of day, he noticed. The Akras Summoner’s Hall was usually brimming with activity. Summoners came and went, receiving and carrying out missions given to them by their superiors. That was where the blue-haired warrior was headed now, to collect information about his next mission. Once he reached the briefing room, he entered his key-code into the control panel, and the door slid back, giving him access. The room was darkened so that the holograms within could be seen better. However, Karl had no trouble seeing Lin Merylham from behind one of the consoles, bent over as she observed a holographic map. “Lin,” He addressed her, making his presence known. She looked up, and her eyes brightened. “Ah, Karl!” She rounded the console and approached him. “Glad you could make it.” He offered a polite smile in return. “What do you have for me?” “Oh, yeah,” She snatched up a hand-held device and dragged her fingers over its panel, pulling up another, smaller map. “There a village in the Mistral region that’s been sending in complaints about increased monster activity.” She pinched and dragged the screen to zoom in on a pulsating red dot. “There’s probably a monster’s nest there. It’s relatively new, so it’s pretty small.” She grinned at him apologetically. “Normally we’d get one of the lower-ranking summoners to do it, but we’re a little short-staffed right now….” He waved her off. “No problem.” “Anyway, it shouldn’t cause you much trouble.” “Yeah,” He smiled, giving a nod. “You wouldn’t be asking me otherwise, huh?” She pouted. “I said we’re short staffed! And you said ‘no problem’!” He chuckled lightly. “Bye, Lin. See you later.” Giving a wave goodbye, he turned to leave. Half-way down the hall, he saw a familiar brunette swordswoman coming around the corner. The woman’s eyes lit up with recognition as she saw him. “Hey, Karl,” She approached him, “I was just looking for you.” “Ah, sorry, Seria,” He smiled apologetically. “Lin just gave me a mission in Mistral. I’m heading out in five minutes.” She frowned. “Have one of the lower-ranked summoners do it.” “Short-staffed.” Seria scoffed, crossing her arms. “Aren’t they always?” “It won’t take long. I’ll be back,” He started past her, giving a smile, “Then we can go watch arena matches together like you wanted.” Her face turned red. “I-I didn’t want t-that! Why…why would I…!?” She sputtered over her words before stopping all together, settling for a scowl instead. “Just…be careful, okay? I know you’re not like those idiot rookies, but…” He laughed again. “I know. Thanks.” She watched his retreating back as he disappeared down the hall. “Idiot.” She gave a heavy sigh, turning on her heels and heading for one of the mapping rooms. She fell back into a chair, pulling up a holographic map. “Mistral, huh?” She pressed down on a button. Flashing red dots appeared on the holograph, symbolizing the monster nests in the area. They were able to do this by measuring the amount of concentrated Ether energy. Not only that, but monsters of the same attribute tended to flock together, making it easier for the Hall to track them. The size of the dot represented the estimated size of the nest. Blip. Her brow furrowed and she leaned forward. Did one of the dots just turn green? It was a nest located in the Caverns of fire. A pretty sizable dot, too. She reached over and tapped on it. A list of data appeared next to it. Fire-Type. Class C. Odd. If most of the summoners out on missions were rookies, none of them would have been assigned to a nest of that size. She leaned back in her chair, giving a shrug. “Someone must’ve gotten lucky,” She decided. *** Riku rested his chin in the palm of his hand as he absently watched Kaine fight in the arena below. His eyes were on the battle but his mind was elsewhere. Though the relationship was not reciprocated, he had always felt close to Zen, especially before the death of their mother. “Riku?” Hisagi noticed his son’s expression. He ignored him. Hisagi’s mouth twitched into an amused smirk. He patted Riku’s head roughly. “Now, whatever could be troubling you?” Riku turned away from him slightly, refusing to meet his eyes. “Nothing,” He muttered. A loose chuckle escaped him. “I wonder if you resent me, hm? For sending Zen away?” Finally, Riku faced him, brow furrowed in frustration. “She’s not going to make it on her own…” Another short laugh. “Now, now, give her at least a little credit.” He nodded to the arena below. Kaine jerked the chain, his weapon flying forward towards his opponent. She barely dodged before countering with a fire attack. Kaine swiftly leaped aside, attacking again. “He is weak,” Hisagi spoke, eyes following his movement. “He cannot even muster enough strength to summon one unit. And yet, he learned to survive. We’ve had this talk before, Riku. When I gave Kaine the same punishment. ‘He’ll never survive!’ you said, ‘He’ll die!’. But he came back, didn’t he?” He looked back at Riku. “And if Zen cannot return….well, then, that just proves my point, doesn’t it?” Riku remained silent. “Strength is everyone, son,” Hisagi’s voice lowered into a murmur, “In this world, there is no other way to survive.” And there it is folks! Kaine Samui has defeated his opponent! It looks like the Samui family is beginning to recover from their recent blunder, but it’s going to take a lot more for people to forget what happened! Can they do it? Can they reclaim their former title as champions of the Arena? �*** Karl strolled through the village, moving through the bustling crowd. He was surprised to see that the market was so busy. Vendors shouted their wares while customers bargained the prices. According to the report, trade had gone down in the village because of the monster activity, which was why he was here in the first place. He had tried contacting Lin, but his radio was not picking up a good signal. Lost in thought, he bumped into someone. “Hey, watch it!” the man shouted. “Sorry,” Karl half-heartedly apologized, still looking around. “Sir, do you know what’s going on? Why are there so many people?” The villager raised his brow, looking Karl up and down. “Nothing in particular. The market hasn’t been this busy in a while if that’s what you mean. You’re not from around here, are you…?” Karl ignored his question. “I thought the trade was down.” A toothy grin appeared on the man’s face. “Aye, that it was. Some kid came and got rid of it. The whole thing, gone. Imagine that!” He laughed heartily as if he had done the deed himself. “It didn’t take long for us to get back on our feet.” “Strange…I didn’t hear about this.” The man’s smile faded. “That armor you’re wearing…you’re from the Akras Hall, aren’t you? Well, you took your sweet time getting here. You’re too late, anyway.” His friendly demeanor vanished all together as he turned away, shaking his head and muttering something about ‘dirty politicians and their lackeys.’ Karl quickly headed towards the edge of town to get a better signal on his radio. He didn’t miss the dirty glances he got from other villagers, but he did his best to ignore them. “—arl! Karl! Can—hear me?! Karl?” The radio crackled to life as he reached the border of town. He unclipped it and held it to his ear. “Lin? It’s me.” He heard her sigh in relief and exasperation. “Good grief! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for hours!” “Well, you’ve got me now.” “I blame Noel.” Karl raised a brow. “Why?” “Who else have I got to blame? Anyway, the reason I wanted to get in touch with you was—“ “Because the monster nest is already destroyed, right?” “Yes.” A short pause. “It happened about two days ago. I didn’t find out until yesterday, though.” “I just got here. The villagers told me.” He decided to leave out the other things he heard behind his back. “Did one of the other summoners get it?” “No.” Karl sighed. “You want me to investigate, don’t you?” “Please.” “Sure. I’m already here anyway.” “Thanks, Karl.” He heard another sigh, this time one of relief. “Be careful!” He nodded before he remembered he was on radio. “Of course.” He switched the device off, heading south for the Cave of Flames. “I’m a high-ranking soldier, but I end up an errand boy in the end,” He complained to no one in particular. “It can’t be helped, I suppose. I blame Noel.” Though he didn’t have a map, he didn’t need one to know he had arrived at his destination. The relentless heat from within the cavern was unmistakable. He did his best to ignore the sweat rolling down his face as he entered the cave. Black monster blood stained the cavern floor. And red blood. Human blood. He knelt down, touching his fingers to it. Dry. He couldn’t tell if it was from the time passed or the heat of the lava. According to what the villager had told him, it was the work of ‘some kid’. And Lin said it wasn’t anyone from the Hall. It wasn’t uncommon for adventures and travelers to have the capability of slaying monsters on their own, but an entire nest? People usually avoided those. Even he might have had a hard time. Karl exited the cave, so caught up in his thoughts he forgot to be relieved as the cool air hit his face. Though it was good that another monster nest had been neutralized, it was a concern that someone outside of the Hall had done it. What was their motive? Were they a threat? What was their goal? Static filled his radio again. “Karl!” Lin’s voice, again. He held it to his ear. “Yeah?” “I just though you should know—H-hey, give that back…!” The sound of a brief scuffle filled his ear. “Hey, Karl, listen up!” He smiled a little. “Seria?” “Of course, who else? Don’t answer that, I don’t care. Listen, another nest just disappeared about ten miles south of where you are. Another C-rank.” That piqued his interest. “Really? Just now?” “Yeah.” “How do you know it wasn’t one of our people?” “Because—“ Another scuffle, and Seria’s cursing cut her off. “Because,” Lin hissed, as if glaring at Seria as she spoke, “You’re the only one of ‘our people’ in that area. It’s no doubt the same person who destroyed the other nest.” Karl broke into a jog. “Is there any way to track their movements?” “I can focus on the Aether concentration, but it won’t be exact…You’re not going after them, are you?! Karl--!” He laughed. “Relax! I’ve handled some tough missions before, Lin, give me a little credit.” “We’re talking about an unknown foe, Karl,” Lin’s tone grew serious, “and they’re apparently capable of wiping out an entire hoard of monsters.” Karl finally noticed the relieving cool breeze as he picked up his pace. “I’ll keep you updated.” He heard Seria shout and curse in the background. “Fine, but consider this a surveillance mission only. Do not engage, understand?” He chuckled. “Yes ma’am.” He continued running, though it would only take a few minutes for him to realize that ten miles is a long way to run. In the end, his target would move to another location as the great warrior was forced to take numerous breaks. Category:Blog posts